C&VG
1st August 1989
Author: John Renwick
Publisher: Accolade
Machine: Amiga 500
Published in Computer & Video Games #93
Test Drive II
Remember Test Drive? It's the sports car racing game with fabulous graphics, a great front-end, and no gameplay.
The Duel retains the brilliant front-end graphics of Test Drive, but adds an extra bucketful of gameplay which puts it way out ahead of its predecessor.
So... pull on your driving gloves and choose your marque; the sleek Ferrari F40, or the powerful Porsche 959.
Decide to race against the clock, or another car. Set your skill level, which decides whether you use automatic or manual gear shift, and how fast the opposing car, cop cars and innocent bystanders move.The screen display is similar to that of Test Drive - an accurate depiction of your car's control panel, showing radar detector, speedo and rev counter. There's an option to display of the gear shift lever at the right; and a rearview mirror above it. In front of you is the open road, ready to be torn up.
Pushing the joystick forward accelerates and you use the fire button to shift gear. Watch the landscape fall away behind you as the miles pile on the clock - and just as you begin to relax and enjoy yourself, the trouble starts.
If you're racing another car, the first thing to happen is the sucker appearing in your rear-view mirror, zooming past you and leaving you eating dust. Shift up to sixth gear and take him on, weaving from side to side as you look for an opportunity to overtake. Remember that Americans drive on the right-hand side of the road, and that colliding with an oncoming truck does more than scratch your expensive paint-job...Crash or collect a speeding ticket and you lose one of your five lives. Hit the back of a cop car, and you're *out* - it's possible to outrun them, but you have to be good. Run out of fuel, and it's all over - make sure you pull in at gas stations when the signs appear at the side of the road. Here you'll get some precious juice, and a summary of your performance so far. It's not difficult to put your name on the high-score table on the easy levels, but if all you get is insults from the computer ("Maybe you should take some driving lessons?..."), you need to improve your performance.
Now, despite the twelve skill levels, huge amount of detailed scenery and sundry dangers such as plunging cliffs, hair-pin bends and narrow tunnels, you might get fired of The Duel. However, salvation is at hand in the form of an optional Scenery Disk (£11.95) which lets you load landscapes stretching all the way from California to Mexico. There's also a Cars Disk (also £11.95) giving you the opportunity to race a Lotus, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette and others.
The Duel: Test Drive II can only really be recommended to two types of people - those who bought Test Drive, and those who didn't. Everyone.PC
The PC version is available now and has all the major game features, with the inevitable compromises on sound and four-colour graphics.
Amiga
This is the one you've been waiting for; all the pretty colours and flash of Test Drive, with a real game added to it. Whether you're a sports car fanatic or not, this is the racing game to catch.
Screenshots
